Wednesday, June 10, 2009

C.R.A.P.py wednesday

Catch-up Rants And Platitudes - #9

yesterday,
this "kitty flu" seemed so far awa-ay-ay,
now it looks as if it's here to stay,
o-o-oh, how i wish i could shake it today...


Sorry, I don't like to whine about my health here - especially two posts in a row, but this really hit me outta nowhere and finally seemed to be nearly gone yesterday. Then I start again with the sneezing, coughing - it's moved into my airway and is hanging tight. Oh, well - breathing is over-rated anyway.

The job hunt

Ups, downs, and crevasses so deep that light cannot penetrate. It's amazing how varied places are about whether or not they even reply to inquiries. And how. Some take weeks before they respond and then give you a name to retry with, others forward your materials and send you info back by the next day. I expected research positions to be available at a dime a dozen, but these are as difficult to scare up as residency spots. I have broken out of my box and started applying for other related positions as well. I can't believe that I cannot scare up a "training position," but I have a solid bite on a "medical director" position DESPITE my repeated emphasis on my lack of experience. That will be an interesting pursuit....

All the proper "official" training programs seem to be sopped up for now - although last-minute cancellations could swing something in my favor. In the meantime the most promising lead (which I still don't have enough info on yet) is a somewhat-equivalent training position to what I have been seeking, but for only 1 year, at an un-accredited program in a hospital that will be hell to work at (but a good educational experience).

The rest of my life

Just as I am ready to step back and see what spins from the job hunt, another set of hoops presents itself. I feel so back-logged in my other endeavors. I actually took a full week off from my volunteering activities but I'm still just treading water. Part of the whole frustration is about finding a new place to live, but since I could just as easily be moving to Ohio or Colorado vs. staying right here in Chicago, it's hard to get serious about packing and choosing some new digs. But I desperately need to do so - this place is bleeding me nearly double what I should be spending.

That "pack rat" gene isn't helping either - still have TONS of crap to go through and toss (or sell - dumped several boxes of old books, and made about $50 on the deal too!), nevermind the reading I should be doing to stay current. Exercise and keeping up on news keep getting shifted to the back-burner as well.

Politics

Again, have been on hiatus about serious topics, but hoping to get back into it soon. Was as amused as ever to see the opposite reactions to Obama's Middle East speech - with the neocons and right-wingers calling it an apology tour, and the rational Americans applauding his moves toward building unity on the national stage. Would be nice to see some positive changes over there, and I think we have a real chance... if other people and events don't screw things up. These reporters held prisoner in North Korea - hopefully the "leverage" that situation is creating can be resolved in a peaceful manner.

Glad to see that the gay marriage issue is slowly swinging the right direction - what are we at now, 6 states that have legalized it? When is "Don't ask, don't tell" gonna get the ax then? I know there are other priorities out there, but this is causing problems with availability of translators in the military, and should be a welcomed relief for our already-overused service people to get more personnel over there.

Movies

Have yet to get out to see Star Trek, but hopefully I can make that happen next week. In the meantime, have managed to sneak in some views of newer DVD releases, so I'll try to get some reviews up soon. Rotten Tomatoes seems to have overhauled the site nicely - I'll have to update my sidebar links, and will point you in that direction when I've got something to show there.

In the meantime, back to my unscheduled grind - hope to have some good news soon!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Feline influenza

kitty in the grassSo yesterday I was hanging around the apartment, and decided to nuzzle the kitty 'cause she looked so cute curled up on the back of the couch. As I brought my face down to her level, almost on cue, she sneezed right in my face. I was momentarily disturbed by that fact, and it gave my wife a good laugh, but otherwise I didn't give it a second thought. Later, poor kitty had some gastronomic upset(*) outta both ends - again, not something all that rare, so I didn't linger on that fact much.

Then about the time I finally got around to cleaning up her messes, it finally struck me why the day seemed to be progressing in slow-motion. I was getting sick! Headache, sore throat ... maybe I caught something from the little petri dishes (**) I came into contact with recently. Overnight I rapidly advanced to chills, full-body aching, and nearer the morning I started burning up. This was no mere "bug" I had caught - this was a new breed of microbe I cooked up thanks to my cat and attempting to be "cultured" by visiting a museum. Now they'll have to take cultures of ME, patient zero. Will "kitty flu" be the new pandemic?!?

The good news I am feeling a little better already today - the sore throat is receding some instead kitty burrowed in her favorite blanket of getting worse, and I don't believe there was any sign of fever this morning. Now if I could just burn off this brain-fog, shake the headache, and lose the body aches....


In the meantime, both kitty and I are taking it easy today. And the wife wisely escaped for a while.


* dunno why i'm feeling so euphemistic, but go with it and be glad i'm sparing you the details.

** on Thursday I finally got to meet a buddy's kids - one about 4 years old, one about 6 months. I'm always surprised at just how much drool these little ones can produce. Then on Friday we took advantage of a "free day" at the Museum of Science and Industry, which was teeming with screaming rugrats and only a fraction of the interesting exhibits I was expecting / remembering. Translation - skip it unless you are bringing your own kids and are VERY PATIENT.

blog history & pending

upcoming:

  • update sidebar & links

previous:

  • 2009-december: updated some content and re-initiated the blog
  • 2009-june: tweaked colors and link appearances
  • 2009-may: formatted search boxes and reference / mail icons
  • 2009-may: transfered original blog to "bonzophrenia" domain, including manual transfer of comments; original dates preserved in italics
  • 2008-nov: resumed blogging more regularly
  • 2005-feb: started "Bonzo-phrenia" at "bonzo-er" domain

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Unless otherwise noted, all written content is (c) Bonzo 2005-2009. Images unless credited otherwise are from google image search or other shared image archives. Header image designed by *ennyllynne*, with an image credit for the fan-shaped book (border removed here) due to nkzs. "try evil" hat worn in profile image designed by David Simmer II, available for sale at Artificial Duck Co.

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